Watching Your Six
by woodster93
Summary: Set around the episode Pursuit. I loved the way they flirted on the video call and the hug at the end. Elliot is divorced and this is how it should have played out. Well in my head anyway


A little one shot I thought of when watching Pursuit last night and the way they definitely flirt on the video call.

Enjoy

 **Watching your Six**

Olivia watched the screen biting down on her bottom lip as she waited for the video call to connect and she couldn't help but smile to herself as her hand reached under her hair and her fingers traced over her skin where she knew the fading mark was.

The screen flickered to life and Elliot appeared on the large screen in front of her. His skin and shirt covered in mud.

"That's a good look for you," she smiled at him.

Elliot smirked back at her, "Thank you Quantico got a lot of new toys I couldn't resist Hogan's alley, what can I tell you?" he said a big smile on his face as he stared straight at her, his eyes so bright.

Olivia leant forward slightly on the desk before she spoke again.

Elliot couldn't stop smiling as she leant towards the screen and it took all his will power to keep his eyes on her face.

Olivia took a deep breath before speaking again knowing there were too many people around them listening into the conversation. They spent the next few minutes getting back to why he had called as he updated them on the information he had collected. Olivia nodded as he told her everything, and she could see his mood change slightly.

"Meaning if he can't get at Alicia he will try for someone else," she said as Fin walked over towards her.

"Just make sure it's not you, do you want me to cut my visit short?" he asked her. Olivia could tell that despite sounding upbeat he was still a little worried.

"No, no I'm good," she smiled at him, despite wanting to tell him to come home.

Elliot just smiled at her. Despite her saying no, he wanted to tell her he was packing his bags and leaving straight away. But his feelings weren't all to do with the case. Instead he just smiled.

"Well Fin may have your six but he's definitely not me," he told her.

Olivia smiled and was about to say something back as Fin walked around the table to the screen.

"I'm better," he said. "I actually watch her back and not just her backside," he told him before switching off the screen.

"Damn it," Elliot sighed when the screen went blank and Olivia disappeared. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and quickly began typing a text.

Olivia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but ignored it as they talked about the case.

Elliot stared at his phone waiting for a reply.

"Hey Stabler, you ready?" asked a younger man stood in the doorway of his room.

"Yeah," he said sighing and standing up. He threw his phone back down to the bed and grabbed his bag on the way out slamming the door on his way.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I will be ready in a few minutes," she told Fin before disappearing towards the rest room. Fin turned to John a confused look on his face.

"What's up?" asked John.

"You noticed anything different with Liv?" he asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know I just….. I just get this feeling something is going on with her and Stabler. They are too…Flirty, with each other."

"They have always been too flirty," laughed John.

"Nah, not like this. Not like they were just now on the video call. He didn't even bite when I said he was always watching her ass."

"Probably because he is…..Look Liv could just be happy because of that Doctor she had a date with a few days ago. Elliot is happy up in Quantico now he is shooting things up."

"Nah man I'm telling you, something is going on."

John smiled and nodded. "Maybe there is," he said to himself thinking back to his conversation with Elliot before he went away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Olivia washed her hands and dried them as she looked in the mirror. She threw the paper towel in the bin and pulled her phone out of her pocket and smiled as she opened the text from him.

 _ **You just know I don't only want to watch your ass anymore. I can't stop thinking about the other night. Be careful, El x**_

She reached up and touched her neck hidden by her hair. She brushed the hair back and looked at the fading mark on her neck and couldn't help but grin as she thought back to five days ago….

 **5 days earlier**

"You looking forward to Quantico?" John asked Elliot.

"7 days out of this place shooting things up, damn right I'm looking forward to it," he grinned.

"You are such a child at times," laughed Olivia as she walked past them.

"Come on Liv are you trying to tell me you wouldn't enjoy it?" he asked her. Olivia just shook her head and sat down opposite him. Elliot watched as her hair dropped down over face and she read the file on her desk. "Your hairs getting long again," he said leaning forward on his desk.

Olivia lifted her head and brushed her hair back. "I'm sorry," she said not quite getting what he said.

"Your hair, it's getting long again," he smiled his eyes fixing on hers.

Olivia nodded and felt her cheeks getting warm at his words.

"Since, when the hell you have been someone who notices a change in hairstyles?"

"Since I have three grown up daughters who get all pissy if you don't notice, plus I'm allowed to look now without getting the third degree from home," he smiled at her. Olivia shook her head and dropped her head back down looking at the file but unable to concentrate on the words. She could feel Elliot's eyes on her still.

Elliot could tell he had embarrassed her and smiled to himself. He stood up and walked around the desks and stopped to the side of her and bent over so he could talk without anyone else hearing him. "I like it," he said his voice just above a whisper. "It's …..Sexy Benson" he told her before straightening up and waking over o the coffee machine.

Olivia felt her heart racing as her pulsed raced and her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She lifted her head and spun around. Elliot was speaking to Cragen and he turned his head and smiled at her, with that smug look that made her want to punch him. She turned around quickly and went back to reading the file. Elliot Stabler had not just done that, he had flirted so openly with her and then carried on as though nothing had happened.

Elliot tried to concentrate on what Cragen was telling him about a time he had gone to Quantico and done the same course Elliot was going on, but all he could think of was Olivia and how much she was driving him crazy.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"That's it all done for the night," said John slamming the file down on his desk. "Why don't we get out of here and go for a drink, it's gonna be at least a week before we get another day off if we are covering for Elliot."

"It's not like I'm going on vacation John," said Elliot.

"Yeah but we will still be picking up the cases for you," he moaned. "So I reckon the first drinks are on you," he grinned.

"Where's Olivia?" asked Fin standing up and turning of his computer.

"Said she was going to get changed," said John.

"Well she better hurry up," said Fin. "There is a large scotch with my name on it."

"Who better hurry up?" asked Olivia from behind Elliot.

"Whoa Baby girl," grinned Fin. "A little overdressed for some run down cop bar."

Elliot spun around quickly and his mouth dropped open. She was stood in front of him in a tight fitting, low cut and what looked like backless red dress.

"We will be fighting the young Rookies off you wearing that," laughed John as Elliot still stood and stared his mouth still open.

"You needn't worry about that," she smiled tying to ignore Elliot, who was still staring. "This outfit isn't being wasted in any cop bar…. I have a date," she told them.

"A….A date," said Elliot finally coming out of his trance. "Since when, you never mentioned anything?"

"That's because I didn't want you lot to know."

"So who is the lucky guy?" asked Fin as he watched Elliot and saw his face change at the news she had a date.

"A doctor I met down at the hospital. We have been out a few times already and we always have fun, nothing to serious…Yet," she said as she swung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and looked at Elliot. "Have fun boys," she called out as she walked past them and out the squad room.

"Close your mouth Stabler," laughed John as Elliot watched her go his eyes fixed to her ass as it swayed out the office.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elliot sat at the bar and stared into his beer as he swirled it around the glass. Images of Olivia in that dress swirling around in his head.

"Fuck," he growled, when he thought of her dancing, laughing and kissing with her date. "What the fuck does she see in a Doctor anyway," he said as he lifted up beer and downed it in one.

"You okay?" John asked as he sat down on the stool beside him and waved at the barman ordering another round of drinks.

"Fine," he mumbled not looking at him.

"Well obviously your definition of fine is a bit different to mine. Has something happened with Kathy?"

"No everything is fine with Kathy, for the first time in years we are actually talking and not fighting. We should have got divorced the first time around," he said picking up the fresh beer.

"The kids then?

"Great as well….. Like I told you everything is fine, everyone is fucking fine."

John smirked before taking a drink.

"Well this must be a first," he said looking over towards Fin who was busy chatting to a bunch of women making them all laugh.

"What is?" asked Elliot not looking at him.

"For the first time in years, everyone in the unit seems happy. Your family life has finally sorted its self out. Fin and his son are talking again, Cragen hasn't had to suspend any of us for a while and from what I have heard he has a new lady friend. I have realised marriage isn't for me so I have stopped looking and I'm now just enjoying the ladies and Olivia…"

Elliot snapped his head around to face him.

"…And Olivia seems to have finally found a guy she can have fun with. Who knows this could be the guy that she finally settles down with and even says I do to," he grinned.

Elliot drank his beer down in one go before slamming the glass down on the bar top and standing up.

"El…. You okay?" asked John unable to stop smiling.

"I need to go," he said putting his jacket on. "I need to…." He shook his head. "I just need to go," he said rushing out the bar.

"Where the hell did Stabler go in such a rush?" asked Fin coming over.

"No idea," said John smiling to himself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well this is me," said Olivia as her date pulled up next to her building and turned off the engine.

"I had a great time tonight," he smiled over at her.

"Yeah me to, I had fun," she told him fiddling with the strap on her bag.

"The fun doesn't have to end yet," he said leaning across the seats and using his fingers to turn her head towards him. "The night is still young."

"Yeah it is," she said quietly as he leaned in for a kiss. Olivia moved back just as his lips were about to touch hers. "But I have work early in the morning," she told him as he dropped his head. "Sorry."

"Yeah," he huffed looking down between them. "Maybe we need to do this on a night when neither of us have work the next morning."

"Yeah maybe," she said reaching for the handle and opening the door and climbing out. "I'll call you," she said looking back in the car.

"Yeah," he replied sadly as Olivia closed the door and watched him start the car and pull away driving off down the road.

She sighed as she reached into her bag for her keys and walked up the steps to her door.

"So Mr Fun Guy doesn't get an invite in?" she heard from behind her. She spun around.

"Elliot, what you doing here?" she asked him as he stood in the middle of the road.

"So Mr Fun Guy doesn't get invited in?" he repeated again as he walked towards her and up the steps slowly towards her.

"It's only our fourth date so he definitely doesn't get an invite in just yet he has to wait until at least the fifth for that."

Elliot smiled as he stopped on the step just below hers putting them at the same height.

"That's good to know," he smiled.

"What are you doing here El?" she asked again. "I thought you and the guys were having drinks?"

"We were," he said. "And then John said something and….. And I had to…..Shit," he said rubbing his hand over his face.

"You had to what?"

"I had to stop you from… from….damn it," he said when he realised he wasn't making any sense. "I had all this planned out in my head, exactly what I was going to say, and now …."

"And now what?"

"And now stood here it sounds…. I don't want you to have fun with him," he said looking at her. "But more than that I don't want you to stop having fun, and start having something else with him."

"Elliot….."

"Fuck!" he cursed under his breath as he stepped up the final step. "I want that something else to be with me Liv….. I want to be that something else," he said cupping her face; he knew he wasn't make sense but that didn't stop him. "I…..I want you Liv….. I want you," he breathed dropping his head to hers. "I don't want to watch you leaving work looking like you did tonight to go on dates with fun doctors. I know I have no right to this, I know you can do better than a divorced father of five but… but, I want to be the next guy that gets an invite in on the fifth date, I don't want that to be anyone else, it would kill me inside," he stopped talking and lifted his head and looked at her, she was stood with her eyes closed and he could see a tear rolling slowly down her cheek. He swallowed hard. "Liv," he croaked. "S….say something," he said struggling to speak his throat was so dry.

She stood there not moving and in silence. Elliot felt sick, he had said too much, he had ruined everything. "Liv," he said again as she let out a shaky breath and slowly opened her eyes and stared into his.

"Kiss me," she whispered. "Don't say another word and just kiss me," she told him.

"Liv are you…."

"I swear to god Stabler you better shut the hell up and just kiss me," she said a warning tone I her voice.

Without another word Elliot moved forward and gently pressed his lips to hers as he moved his fingers through her hair and pulled her to him deepening the kiss. He felt he was going to explode at the feel and taste of her lips on his; it was like something he had never felt before. He heard her moan into his mouth as his tongue swept over her lips and found hers making him return the moan as the kiss deepened. He moved her carefully back against her the wall as her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him to her and he squashed her against the brickwork.

They finally separated both gasping for breath their foreheads pressed together.

"Why now," she panted. "Why tonight?"

"I told you, I couldn't lose you to a doctor, I don't want you going on dates unless it's with me. I thought I had time to tell you, I thought I would have time to figure out if you felt the same, to maybe take you out for a meal and tell you how I felt. And then John he, he said something tonight and I realised I couldn't wait, I couldn't risk you saying I do to a doctor."

"El," she smiled. "We had only been on four dates, saying I do was a never on the cards."

"Yeah well I couldn't risk that, that's why I had to tell you tonight."

"And what if it had been the fifth day?" she asked him grinning.

"God don't even say that," he said kissing her softly. "It would have killed me," he said deepening the kiss again his fingers running through her hair and one hand travelling down over her neck and arm to her waist and pulling her to him.

"Jesus El," she moaned as his mouth skimmed over her chin and he kissed her neck sucking her skin gently into his mouth as she dropped her head back against the wall giving him better access. His hand moved from her hip and down her leg before he grabbed her under her knee and lifted her leg around his waist as he pushed forward and she felt his erection pushing against her.

"Christ," she sighed as he rocked against her and she felt him sucking harder on her neck and she knew he was marking her.

Olivia heard the door to her building slamming shut.

"Get a damn room," she heard. "Or I will call the cops," the person said before walking off down the steps.

She felt Elliot chucking against her neck and she laughed with him.

"Shit I'm so sorry," he said standing up straight and dropping her leg to the floor pulling her dress down.

"Don't be," she smiled at him running her fingers lightly down his face and over his lips. "You want to come up?" she asked him biting down on her bottom lip. When she had gone out on her date tonight she never in her wildest dreams thought it would end like this.

"I would love nothing more, but I will have to say no."

He saw the disappointed look on her face.

"Liv, trust me I want to but I also don't want to screw this up anyway, if we count this as a date we still have four to go before I get the invite to come upstairs," he grinned. "Plus I have to leave at five in the morning for Quantico and I still have to pack."

"Okay," she said trying to not look to unhappy.

"I will be back in a week and I am going to take you on a date every day, until we reach date number five," he told her making her laugh. "And just in case Fun Doctor thinks he has a chance still, I left a little mark to warn him off," he said running his finger over the mark on her neck.

"So I felt, and don't think I won't pay you back for that, Cragen will flip if he sees it."

Elliot smirked as he stepped away from her. "Oh you can punish me anyway you want Benson," he winked lifting her hand and kissing the back of it. "I will see you in seven days," he said walking down the steps.

"Call me when you get home," she told him.

"I will," he smiled staring up at her. "Night Liv."

"Night El," she said as she watched him walking off down the street. She ran her fingers over the mark on her neck and smiled. "Possessive prick," she said to herself as she opened her door and went inside, the smile never leaving her face.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **Present day**

Elliot slammed the car door shut ran into the building. He pressed the button on the elevator before turning and running towards the stairs to impatient to wait for it to arrive. He charged up the five flights of stairs and down the corridor needing to get to her.

After their last video call and then speaking to Cragen again about the case he ignored her words of cutting his trip short and packed his bags, then headed back to New York. He was gathering the info they needed when he got the call from Cragen about Sonia.

He rounded the corner and saw her coming towards him. Tears streaming down her face as they ran towards each other. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her to him holding each other tight.

"I'm really glad your back," she said clinging to him tightly.

"I should have come back sooner," he said his voice raspy with emotion. He knew she was hurting but all he could think of was it could have been her. If he hadn't been here and something had happened to her.

"I'm fine," she said pulling back slightly.

"Like hell you are," he said gripping her shoulders tightly. All he wanted to do was drag her out of there, get her home and hold her all night, but he couldn't they had a job to do first. And when that was done they could talk about what happened before he left.

He told her the info he had gathered she had nodded and stepped around him. He wanted to reach out and pull her back to him, but he had to let her work through this the only way she knew how, and that was catching the bastard that killed her friend and those other women.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been 48 hours since they caught the killer and rapist, and almost 24 since he had seen Olivia. He had wanted to take her home but she needed space and time to work through what had happened.

He took a deep breath as he pressed the button on the intercom to her apartment.

Without even asking who it was, the door clicked open for him. He walked in and climbed the stairs slowly. He needed to calm himself down before he saw her again. He was scared she would have had second thoughts about them since that night. Especially with everything that happened.

He reached up and was about to knock on the door when it opened and she was stood facing him.

"Erm…. Hi," he smiled, dropping his hand from when he was going to knock. "Sorry I should have called before I came over, but it's just….Well I wanted to see you….. You know to make sure your okay."

Olivia just stood in the doorway looking at him as he talked. She was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a tight fitting t-shirt, her hair tied back in a messy pony tail and he had never seen her look so beautiful.

"I thought if you were hungry we could go out for something to eat, I bet you haven't eaten properly for days."

"You mean like a date?" she asked him a small smile on her face.

Elliot smiled back at her. "Yeah, kinda like a date."

"That would make it what?" she asked him stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Date number two," he smirked all his worries vanishing as she wrapped her arms around him and smiled.

"No it isn't," she said shaking her head.

"Okay date number one if we cancel out me coming here a week ago."

She shook her head again and Elliot looked at her confused.

"In my reckoning after 12 years of being partners we must have been out for at least 500 drinks either after a bad case or just to chill out. We have eaten together at least 6000 times give or take one or two times," she laughed and his grin got wider as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him.

"You have taken me home and waited for me to blink my lights hundreds of times and picked me up in the mornings, bringing me breakfast more times than I can count."

"Liv…." He said but she placed a finger to his lips quietening him.

"I don't need another five dates Detective Stabler before I invite you in. I don't need another five dates to know it will be my last fifth date, and I don't need another five dates to fall in love with you."

Elliot's heart began to race at her words. He opened and closed his mouth.

"If I have learnt anything over the last few days it's that life is too short for five more pointless dates when the person I want is the person who has been watching my six for the last 12 years."

"Oh trust me," he said picking her up and making her squeal before his mouth crashed against hers silencing her. "I have been watching you and falling in love with more than just your ass for the last 12 years," he told her before kissing her hard again and carrying her into her apartment and slamming the door shut behind them.

 **Anyone notice the little scene taken from my first ever OTP Doug and Carol (ER)I always loved this scene.**


End file.
